Machine for simultaneously dispensing a plurality of substantially equal quantities of a viscous substance



Dec. 4, 1962 G, SHERMAN ETAL 3,066,644

MACHINE FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY DISPENSING A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY EQUALQUANTITIES OF A VISCOUS SUBSTANCE Filed Feb. 9, 1961 24 22 n-n I a l 27h I 3/ 37 17 IBI "I I I .Fig. l

I" *I 1 IO 46 INVENTORS.

Guy S. Sherman 3/ By LeROy E. Williams N Buckhorn, Cheafham 8 Blore ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 3,066,544 Patented Dec. 4, 1962MACHINE FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY DISPENSING A PLURALITY 9F SUBi-aTANTIALLYEQUAL QUANTITIES OF A VIStIQUS SUESTANiIE Guy S. Sherman, 1165 BondsRoad, and LeRoy E. Williams, 990 SE. Rural, both of Salem, Greg. FiledFeb. 9, 1961, Ser. No. 88,158 Claims. (Cl. 118 315) Our presentinvention comprises a machine for dis pensing simultaneously a pluralityof substantially equal quantities of a viscous substance such as masticor an adhesive employed to attach acoustic tile to ceiling surfaces, orthe like. Such substances are usually very viscous and will not flowunder gravity alone, so that pressure must be applied in some manner oranother. Ordinarily such substances are distributed commercially instandard cylindrical containers such as one gallon or five gallon cans,the cans being provided with an internal flange at one end forengagement by a flanged cap.

Normally the application of adhesive to such articles as acoustic tileis accomplished manually by the workman scooping irregular quantities ofthe adhesive from the container with a paddle or the like and smearingthe substance onto the tile. Such operations are tedious and tiring,resulting in rapid loss of efliciency and increased expense inapplication of the tile surface. The present invention is designed toeliminate much of the manual labor normally associated with such work.

An object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide means forrapidly applying globules of a viscous or adhesive substance to thesurface of an article such as acoustic tile, with a minimum amount ofmuscular eifort on the part of the workman.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means forapplying substantially equal quantities of a viscous substance at aplurality of points in definitely spaced relationship to each other uponthe surface of a tile or the like, thereby easing application sinceuniform motions of a smoothing paddle will spread the substance so thatuniform pressure at certain points on the tile itself will suflice toposition the tile properly on the ceiling or wall surface.

The substances normally employed for the purposes outlined usuallycomprise a volatile solvent. In the normal manual dispensing of suchsubstances the container must remain open to the atmosphere for longperiods of time, so that as the Work progresses the solvent evapo ratesand the substance becomes thicker. Some such substances even changetheir molecular composition, so that they cannot be revitalized bystirring in more of the solvent. If a partially used container isrecapped, a surface portion of the substance is usually lost byevaporation of the solvent and the formation of a tough skin on theremaining portion of the substance. A further object of the presentinvention is to provide means whereby the amount of the substanceremaining in the container is at all times Within a closed space, sothat the solvent will not be lost or the substance otherwise allowed tochange its character before application.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill be more readily apparent from inspection of the followingspecification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, andin which like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, portions thereof being shown in vertical section;

FIG. 2 is a partial horizontal section taken substantially along line2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial horizontal section taken substantially along line3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial vertical section taken substantially along line 44of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial end view of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section taken along line 66 of FIG. 1 withportions of the apparatus broken away.

The invention preferably comprises a table including a top member 10providing a working surface 11 upon which a vertical stack of aplurality of planar articles such as acoustic tile 12 may be positioned,the top 10 being supported by legs 13. A pair of posts 15 risevertically from the table top on opposite sides of the portion thereofholding the stack 12, the posts rising to a considerable height abovethe stack. A pair of radially directed arms 16 extend toward each otherfrom the posts 15 and are connected together by a crossbar 17. The armsare rigidly affixed to a supporting shelf 18 which is preferably in theshape of a disc having a diameter such that the usual bottom flange of acontainer 20 will snugly fit over the disc. The shelf, however, may haveany suitable form since other means will maintain the coutainer 20 indesired position, as will presently appear.

The posts 15 are preferably in the form of sections of tube, and amovable structure 21 is mounted upon the posts, the structure comprisinga crossbar 22 and a pair of rigidly afiixed depending guide rods 23which respectively telescope with the tubular posts. A nut 24 is fixedto the center of the crossbar 22 and is threadedly engaged by a verticalscrew-shaft 25 which extends coaxially into the container 20. Manuallyoperative crank means, specifically a handwheel 26, is affixed to theupper end of the shaft 25, and means 27, such as a ball and socketjoint, attach the lower end of shaft 25 rotatively to a follower disc 28adapted snugly to fit within the open end of the container 20. Thecontainer :20 is the distributing container in which the adhesive isplaced by its manufacturer and purchased by the consumer, with one endthereof cut off as by means of a rotary blade opener so that the snuglyfitting follower disc may slide into the container. The opposite end ofthe container remains closed and is provided with a plurality of spacedpunctures 3% such as may be formed by driving a cold chisel or the likethrough the top, at the desired points. The cylindrical containerholding the adhesive or other viscous substance, having an open upperend, and a closed lower end 31 provided with a plurality of punctures30, thereby becomes an expendable portion of the dispensing apparatus.

The container is maintained in coaxial relation to the remainder of theequipment by the follower disc 28, possibly aided by locating means suchas the disc shelf 18.

The shelf 18 is provided with a plurality of dispensing openings 35which are adapted to be positioned in register with the punctures 30 inthe lower end 31 of the container. A plurality of valve members 36,preferably in the form of knife blades, bear against the lower surfaceof the shelf 18 in shearing relation thereto, being normally maintainedin position to close the openings 35. The valve members 36 arepreferably mounted respectively at the ends of the arms of a spidermember 37 pivotally mounted upon a pivot 38 extending vertically betweenthe crossbar 17 and the shelf 18. A spring 46 is tensioned between onearm of the spider and a pin on shelf 18, the spring being biasednormally to maintain an arm of the spider against an abutment 41 fixedto the shelf whereby the valve members are held in closing relation tothe openings 35.

Means are provided simultaneously to move all of the valve members awayfrom the openings 35, comprising a cable 45 fixed to one of the arms ofthe spider 37 at one end, passing over an idler pulley mounted upon oneof the posts 15 and extending downward to a treadle bar 47 pivotallymounted on one of the legs 13 of the table and maintained in a movementlimiting bracket 48 on an adjacent leg 13. Depression of the treadleresults in all of the valve members being simultaneously moved touncover the dispensing openings 35, whereupon pressure applied by thefollower disc 28 will cause extrusion of substantially equal amounts ofthe substance. As soon as pressure on the treadle bar is released, thespring 49 simultaneously returns all of the valve memhers to closingpositions, the knife edges thereof slicing through the extrusions andpermitting them to drop onto the desired portions of the top tile 12. Itis to be appreciated that tiles may be individually held at the positionwhich would represent the top of the stack of tiles. Also, the globulesof the substance thus extruded and severed may drop with reasonableaccuracy onto successively lower uppermost tiles in the stack.

Means are associated with the movable structure 21 whereby actuation ofthe threaded member 25 need not be effected for each tile, comprisingresilient means biased between the posts 15 and the movable structure soas to exert downward pressure upon the follower disc 28. Such meanspreferably comprises a pair of helical springs t} surrounding the posts,having their lower ends respectively attached to the posts, and theirupper ends respectively attached to the movable structure 21 adjacentthe ends of the crossbar 22. By reason of this structure the operatormay from time to time give a few revolutions to the shaft through mediumof the handwheel 26 and then proceed to apply the substance to aplurality of the articles, until the springs 5% have recoiled to such anextent that they cannot exert sufficient force to extrude the substancefrom the container.

By reason of the foregoing structure it will be appreciated that thequantity of the substance remaining in the container at any time willalways be in a confined space, thus preserving its viscosity andpreventing escape of the solvent. Therefore, all of the substance willbe utilized.

Having illustrated and disclosed a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that thesame permits of modifications in arrangement'and detail. We claim as ourinvention all such modifications as come within the true spirit andscope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A machine for simultaneously dispensing a plurality of substantiallyequal quantities of a viscous substance onto articles such as acoustictile comprising means providing a supporting surface for a stack of thearticles, a pair of posts rising above opposite sides of said surface, acontainer supporting shelf supported horizontally between said posts, acylindrical container adapted to hold said viscous substance supportedupon said shelf, said container having an entirely open upper end and aclosed lower end which is provided with a plurality of spaced puncturetherethrough, said shelf having a plurality of openings therethroughadapted to register with saidpunctures, valve means for simultaneouslyopening or closing said openings, a movable structure mounted upon saidposts and comprising a crossbar spanning said posts and a pair ofvertical guide members telescopically associated respectively with saidposts, a nut mounted on said crossbar in coaxial alignment with saidcontainer, a threaded shaft engaged in said nut, shaft rotating meansfixed to the upper end of said shaft, a follower disc adapted snugly toenter said container through its open upper end, means rotatablyconnecting said follower disc to the lower end of said shaft, andtension spring means biased between said posts and said movablestructure.

2. A machine for simultaneously dispensing a plurality of substantiallyequal quantities of a viscous substance onto articles such as acoustictile comprising means providing a supporting surface for a stack of thearticles, a pair of posts rising above opposite sides of said surface, acontainer supporting shelf supported horizontally between said posts, acylindrical container adapted to hold said viscous substance supportedupon said shelf, said container having an entirely open upper end and aclosed lower end which is provided with a plurality of spaced puncturestherethrough, said shelf having a plurality of openings therethroughadapted to register with said punctures, valve means for simultaneouslyopening or closing said openings, a movable structure mounted upon saidposts and comprising a crossbar spanning said posts and a pair ofvertical guide members telescop ically associated respectively with saidposts, a nut mounted on said crossbar in coaxial alignment with saidcontainer, a threaded shaft engaged in said nut, shaft rotating meansfixed to the upper end of said shaft, a follower disc adapted snugly toenter said container through its open upper end, means rotatablyconnecting said follower disc to the lower end of said shaft, and a pairof helical springs respectively surrounding the upper portions of saidposts, said springs being connected respectively to said posts at theirlower ends and to said movable structure at their upper ends.

3. A machine for simultaneously dispensing a plurality of'sub'stantiallyequal quantities of a viscous substance onto articles such as acoustictile comprising means providing a supporting-surface for a stack of thearticles, a pair of posts rising above opposite sides of said surface, acontainer supporting shelf supported horizontally between said posts, acylindrical container adapted to hold said viscous substance supportedupon said shelf, said container having an entirely open upper end and aclosed lower end which is provided with a plurality of spaced puncturestherethrou-gh, said shelf having a plurality of openings therethroughadapted to register with said punctures, a movable structure mountedupon said posts and comprising a crossbar spanning said posts and a pairof vertical guide members telescopically associated respectively withsaid posts, a nut mounted on said crossbar in coaxial alignment withsaid container, a threaded shaft engaged in said nut, shaft rotatingmeans fixed to the upper end of said shaft, a follower disc snugly toenter said container through its open upper end, means rotatabl'yconnecting said follower disc to the lower end of said shaft, aplurality of valve members mounted beneath said supporting shelf andnormally closing said openings, means for simultaneously moving saidvalve members to permit the escape of the substance from said container,and means for simultaneously returning said valve members to theirnormal positions.

4. A machine for simultaneously dispensing a plurality of substantiallyequal quantities of a viscous substance onto articles such as acoustictile comprising means providing a supporting surface for a stack of thearticles, a

pair of posts rising above opposite sides of such surface, a containersupporting shelf supported horizontally between said posts, acylindrical container adapted to hold said viscous substance-supportedupon said shelf, said container having an entirely open upper end and aclosed lower end which i provided with a plurality of spaced puncturestherethrough, said shelf having a plurality of openings therethroughadapted to register with said punctures, a movable structure mountedupon said'posts and comprising a crossbar spanning said posts and a pairof vertical guide members telescopically associated respectively withsaid posts, a nut mounted on said crossbar in coaxial alignment withsaid container, a threaded shaft engaged in said nut, shaft rotatingmeans fixed to the upper end of said shaft, a follower disc adaptedsnugly to enter said container through its open upper end, meansrotatably connecting said follower disc to the lower end of said shaft,a plurality of valve members mounted beneath said supporting shelf andnormally closing said openings, and means for simultaneously moving saivalve members to permit the escape of the substance from said containercomprising a spider rotatively mounted beneath said shelf in coaxialalignment with said container, said spider having a plurality of armsrespectively movable in sliding engagement with the lower surface ofsaid shelf and normally closing said openings, treadle operated meansconnected to said spider and effective to arcuately move said spider tosuch an extent as to uncover said openings, and resilient means opposingsuch movement and effective to return said spider to its normalposition.

5. A machine for simultaneously dispensing a plurality of substantiallyequal quantities of a viscous substance onto articles such as acoustictile comprising means providing a supporting surface for a stack of thearticles, a pair of posts rising above opposite sides of such surface, acontainer supporting shelf supported horizontally between said posts, acylindrical container adapted to hold said viscous substance supportedupon said shelf, said container having an entirely open upper end and aclosed lower end which is provided with a plurality of spaced puncturestherethrough, said shelf having a plurality of it)? openingstherethrough adapted to register with said punctures, a movablestructure mounted upon said posts and comprising a crossbar spanningsaid posts and a pair of vertical guide members telescopicallyassociated respectively with said posts, a nut mounted on said crossbarin coaxial alignment with said container, a threaded shaft engaged insaid nut, shaft rotating crank means fixed to the upper end of saidshaft, a follower disc adapted snugly to enter said container throughits open upper end, means rotatably connecting said follower disc to thelower end of said shaft, spring means biased between said posts and saidmovable structure whereby to exert pressure upon said substance, aplurality of valve members mounted beneath said supporting shelf andnormally closing said openings, means for simultaneously moving saidvalve members to permit the escape of the substance from said container,and resilient means opposing such movement and effective to return saidspider to its normal position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,085,789 Bennett Feb. 3, 1914 1,125,892 Svalland Jan. 19, 19152,610,937 Frink et al Sept. 16, 1952 2,806,443 Horn et al Sept. 17, 1957

